Williams announce Simon Roberts as Managing Director

Williams have announced that Simon Roberts will join the team from McLaren in the position of Managing Director at the start of June.

Williams have announced that Simon Roberts will join the Grove-based team at the start of June. Roberts was Chief Operations Officer with McLaren and joins Williams in the newly established position of Managing Director for the F1 team.

Roberts’ role will see him take overall responsibility for the design and development process of the Formula 1 cars, as well as racing, factory operations and planning.

Robert’s career began with Perkins Engines in the 1980’s and worked his way up through the company before moving to the BMW/Rover Group where he worked in engineering and operations in senior capacities.

He joined Alstom Group as Operations Director in 2000 before he arrived in Formula 1 in 2003 with McLarn as Operations Director and General Manager.

He moved to Force India for 2009 as Chief Operating Officer before returning to McLaren in 2010 as Operations Director. He then became Chief Operations Officer in 2017.

“Simon will bring enormous experience and knowledge to the Williams team, and we are delighted that he is joining us when we head back to work after this long enforced F1 shutdown.” said Williams’ Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams. “He will lead a highly talented team that’s looking forward to designing and developing the next generation of Williams F1 cars.”